Daily Current Affairs Updates–4th January 2017

Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

i) The 350th birth anniversary of the 10th and last Prophet-teacher of the Sikh faith, Guru Gobind Singh is being celebrated across the country with special festivities lined up in Patna Sahib where he was born.

ii) Delhi government offices will remain closed tomorrow as Lt Governor Anil Baijal has approved holiday to mark the occasion. In Patna, a four kilometer long grand Kirtan procession began from Gandhi Maidan at 11 this morning.

Textile Ministtry launches BunkarMitra-Handloom Helpline Centre

i) Textile Minister SmritiIrani has launched a BunkarMitra-Handloom Helpline Centre where professional queries of weavers will be answered by the experts in the field. The toll free number is 1800-208-9988.

ii) This helpline will function from 10.00 AM to 6 PM and weavers can call from anywhere in country. Initially it will provide information in 7 languages. These are Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada Bengali and Assamese.

iii) MsIrani said that the helpline is a great mix of technology, youth and tradition. She asked the officials of Ministry to monitor issues on which maximum complaints are received, so that corrective actions can be taken accordingly.

EC announces poll dates for five States

i) The Election Commission of India announced the dates for the Assembly elections in UP, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand& Goa at a press conference

ii) The polls will be held from Feb 4 to Mar 8 and counting will begin on Mar 11.There are 690 legislative assemblies which will go to polls and 16 cr people will vote. Total of 185000 polling stations will be covered under operations

Govt launches UDAY web portal& app for transparency

i) The Government of India launched Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) web portal and mobile app in a bid to track and monitor the progress of DISCOMs on operational and financial parameters.

ii) Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal& New and Renewable Energy and Mines, PiyushGoyal launched the web portal and a Mobile App for one of India’s most talked about scheme—-or the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) for operational and financial turnaround of state power distribution companies.

iii) The Application will provide all details on the scheme including the number of states joining the scheme as also the progress achieved by each state under various parameters listed under the scheme—-including AT&C losses, cost of electricity, bonds issued and others.

Cabinet approves pact with Kenya on agriculture

i) The Union Cabinet has approved signing of MoU between India and Kenya on bilateral cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.

ii) The MoU covers various activities in these fields which include agricultural research, animal husbandry and dairy, livestock etc.

iii) The MoU provides for constitution of a Joint Working Group comprising of representatives from both countries.

i) Cabinet has approved signing and ratifying an agreement between India and Uruguay regarding cooperation and mutual assistance in Customs Matters.

ii) An official release said, the Agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of customs offences.

iii) The Agreement would provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries.

iv) The agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries.

Cabinet oks MoU with Portugal in agriculture and allied sectors

i) The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of an agreement for cooperation between India and Portugal in the fields of agriculture and allied sectors.

ii) The agreement covers various activities in these fields which include exchange of scientific and technical information, trade in plants and plant products, exchange of information in phytosanitary issues, training programmes, seminars and visits of experts and consultants.

iii) The Union Cabinet was chaired by Prime Minister NarendraModi, an official announcement here said.

i) For the benefit of voters, candidates, election staff as well as the Election Commission of India (ECI), the district administration of Ludhiana has developed a mobile application named “ECI360”.

ii) Developed by Harpreet Singh Chandokefrom a company named “01 Synergy” on behalf of the district administration and a brainchild of deputy commissioner Ravi Bhagat, this mobile app would prove beneficial for all the stakeholders of upcoming assembly elections.

iii) Besides, a web-based application to be used by ECI, CEO, DEO and RO named “RoNET” has been developed that would specifically to enable them to know what exactly they are required to do and when; without burdening them with an additional reporting forum.

Swachh Bharat survey in 500 cities from today

i) In a bid to encourage competition to improve sanitation standards, the government will kick start a survey, SwachhSurvekshan 2017, from today to rank 500 cities across the country on cleanliness. The survey will be conducted by Quality Council of India.

ii) It will judge cities on the basis of data provided by Municipal bodies, data collected through direct observations and independent assessment and citizen feedbacks.

i) In one of the biggest crackdown on underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government seized assets of Mumbai serial blast mastermind worth up to Rs 15,000 crore.

ii) National Security Adviser AjitDoval reportedly pursued the matter with UAE and requested the officials to act and seize Dawood’s property. This issue came when PM Modi, accompanied by NSA Doval, visited UAE.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY NEWS:

FDI up 27% at $ 27.8 bn in Apr-Oct this fiscal

i) Foreign direct investment inflows into the country grew over 27 per cent, to 27.8 billion dollars during the April to October 2016 period.

ii) According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the main sectors to attract foreign inflows include telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobiles.

i) After petrol and diesel, buying and paying for cooking gas (LPG) online will get consumers a discount of Rs. 5 per cylinder.

ii) State-owned fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) will offer “an upfront discount of Rs. 5 on every LPG refill to all LPG customers who will book and pay for it online,” an official statement said here.

iii) To provide cash-less transactions, the government had asked oil companies to pay consumers 0.75 per cent discount on cashless fuelling of petrol and diesel at petrol pumps.

APPOINTMENTS:

IBM India names Karan Bajwa as Managing Director

i) Technology giant IBM said it has appointed Karan Bajwa Managing Director of its India operations.

ii) He succeeds VanithaNarayana, who has been elevated as Chairman of IBM India.

iii) Bajwa joined IBM last year as Executive for Strategy and Transformation in the Asia Pacific region. Previously, he was Microsoft India’s managing director.

S. Padmanabhan nominated as Chairman of Tata Power

i) Tata Power has said that S Padmanabhan has been nominated as chairman of the board of directors of the company. Last month, Padmanabhan was appointed the Additional Director.

ii) Prior to joining the Tata Power board, he was the Executive Chairman, Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG), and was recently given the additional responsibility as Head of Group HR for Tata Sons.

M K Stalin elected as Working President of DMK

i) DMK today elected party treasurer M K Stalin as its Working President. The general body of DMK elected him in its meeting held in Chennai this morning.

ii) The party treasurer and opposition leader in the Tamil Nadu Assembly MK Stalin has been elevated to the position of ‘Acting President,’ as his nonagenarian father and President of the party M Karunanidhi is suffering from geriatric health issues.

i) In a bid to transform New Delhi area into clean, green and livable capital city at par global standards, Rio Olympic medalist and Arjun Awardee Deepa Malik and first female amputee to climb Mount Everest, ArunimaSinha have been appointed as brand ambassadors for Swachh NDMC.

ii) The declaration to this effect has been made by the New Delhi Municipal Council at a function presided over by Member Parliament,MeenakashiLekhi.

RBI Appoints SurekhaMarandi As Executive Director

i) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed SurekhaMarandi as its Executive Director (ED). She was appointed in place of U S Paliwal who retired on December 31, 2016.

ii) In her new role, she will look after Consumer Education and Protection Department, Financial Inclusion and Development Department, and Secretary’s Department of the RBI.

Justice JS Khehar sworn in as next CJI

i) Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was today sworn in as the next Chief Justice.

ii) The CJI was administered oath by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function at RashtrapatiBhawan, where Prime Minister NarendraModi was also present.

iii) Justice Khehar, who will be the first Chief Justice from the Sikh community, will hold the tenure for over seven months till August 27.

OBITUARY:

John Berger, renowned art critic& author, dies at 90

i) John Berger, a Booker award winner, the intellectual and prodigious author died. He was 90.

ii) The author of criticism, novels, poetry, screenplays and many less classifiable books, Berger had considerable influence as a late 20th-century thinker.